Physical and psychological health

In the field of sustainable development, reference is often made to the ‘triple bottom line’ of physical, economic and social benefits. The health and wellbeing triple bottom line could be summarised as health, comfort and happiness. In order to draw more direct parallels with the built environment, we can refer to Vitruvius and his tripartite model of the three elements required for a well-designed building (Figure 2.1): ¹

▪ firmitas or firmness (health)

▪ utilitas or commodity (comfort)

▪ venustas or delight (happiness).